Popular Montrose bar ditches the food truck for a full-bore kitchen — and better food

Popular Montrose bar ditches the food truck for much better food

Boheme's new peachy piggy pizza features sliced pizzas and a balsamic reduction.
Photo by Eric Sandler

The new kitchen features expanded prep space.
Photo by Eric Sandler

Boheme's kitchen allows for increased capacity.
Photo by Eric Sandler

A banh mi pizza is another new addition.
Photo by Eric Sandler

One of Montrose's most popular bars is stepping up its culinary program. Boheme, the popular wine bar known for its expansive patio and innovative cocktail menu created by beverage director Hal Brock, has finally replaced its food truck with a real kitchen.

Hidden away from Boheme's seating area in an adjacent building, the new kitchen has been two years in the making. After the usual permitting and construction delays, the bar received final approval to begin operations at the end of March. With separate areas for prep, cooking, storage and dishwashing, the new kitchen dwarfs the food truck that had been serving as Boheme's kitchen.

"Boheme has ambitions to raise the level of its food program even more," Boheme spokeperson Dutch Small tells CultureMap. "Having a full, proper kitchen gives Boheme the ability to do more complex dishes, to do more volume and to shorten the waits. We can push out more food more quickly."

Removing the food truck also frees up critical parking sapces, which means an escape from street parking for valet-haters.

"Boheme has ambitions to raise the level of its food program even more."

Since the firing of chef Rishi Singh, Boheme's menu has been a group effort that includes the bar's general manager, kitchen manager and kitchen staff. The approach has already yielded two new pizzas — a banh mi pie topped with chicken, poblano and avocado and the "peachy piggy" that features sliced peaches and jalapeno bacon.

The steps required to prepare the ingredients for both pizzas wouldn't have been possible on the food truck without degrading the kitchen's ability to serve the rest of the menu, but the expanded space makes them possible.

Small adds that "the sky is the limit" in terms of future offerings. Although other new offerings are still under development, he adds that they will feature "more complicated preparations" than before.

Of course, that doesn't mean Boheme is going full-on foodie by replacing its pre-made lavash crusts or ditching its signature French fries. "It's going to remain bar food," Small says.

"To say that anybody could do better than the lavash that we’re serving, I’m not even sure we’d want to change that part."